Replies & follow-ups

What comes back is read every cycle: bounces are caught, opt-outs honoured forever, replies classified with caution, and a “yes” with a time becomes a calendar event.

Reading the inbox#

1. Poll
   Over IMAP, every free tick and every hour from the API, for the threads we sent.
2. Bounces
   A delivery failure marks the email failed and moves the address to dead_email, so it is never used again. Bounces feed the bounce brake; they are never classified as replies.
3. Opt-outs
   A phrase like “please don’t contact me” marks the reply negative and puts the person and the company on do-not-contact for good, withdrawing any pending drafts.
4. Classify
   Everything else is classified by the cheap model. Anything it can’t parse — or isn’t sure about — is neutral.

positive

Interest: they will refer, forward, or want to talk.

negative

A no, or an opt-out.

closed

Hiring done, not now, wrong team.

neutral

Ambiguous — read it yourself on the Replies page.

One follow-up, at most#

After five quiet days, one follow-up is drafted on the same thread and placed in the review queue like any other email — it is never sent without approval, and there is never a second.

From “yes” to calendar#

A positive reply with a time, a meeting link or a deadline becomes an event (call, assessment or interview). With Google Calendar connected it is pushed to your calendar; if it clashes with something already there, a reschedule draft lands in the Queue — the machine never confirms a time on its own.